Hsipaw

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 Mahamyatmuni Paya

There isn't much night life in Hsipaw so we went at dusk to feed the fish

Some enterprising soul set up a fish food concession and as you peer into the water you see a teeming mass of very ugly fish

The East Haw (Shan Palace)

Built in 1924 in the grounds of the Shan Palace, for the elder son.  The palace was destroyed by the Japanese during their occupation and the royal family moved into the much smaller East Haw.    It is the home of 'Mr. Donald' nephew of the last prince and 'Fern' his wife, daughter of the last prince of Monywa 

In 2002 Fern and Donald were 'At Home' to visitors most days.  Walk to the house in the late afternoon and you should find the gate unlocked.   Be sure to leave a small donation to help with the upkeep.  The house is sparsely furnished. All the possessions left behind by the family of the former Sawbwa have been sold off to maintain the  building

On September 30th 2005 Mr. Donald was sentenced to 13 years in prison for "operating as an unlicensed tour guide, defaming the State and being in violation of restrictions imposed under the Habitual Offenders Act" The gates were locked in 2005 but I heard in 2018 that it is again possible to visit Fern and her grandson who was a little boy when we met last  

               Mr Donald ploughing in the last of the daylight
 

Fern shows Barbara some of the books written by and about the family.  Sao Kya Seng the last Sawbwa of Hsipaw brought his Austrian bride Inge Sargent here in 1953.  She didn't know she was the Mahadevi until her arrival in Burma  

Together they set out to improve farming methods.  Conditions improved and the child mortality rate declined, but it was not to last.  The prince disappeared in the coup of 1962.   Inge and her daughters eventually left for Austria, then settled in Colorado where she had met her prince.  Her memoir 'Twilight Over Burma' is a must read  

Fern is an avid reader and loves to receive paperbacks

 He had told Barbara and I that he thought his notoriety abroad would protect him from the SPDC regime, but that if it didn't he had had a good life.  He was arrested in 2005  and released in 2009 under a general amnesty for 4000 political prisoners

      

   The Boys                             

Trek To Elephant Logging Camp

Somehow Ralph, Manfred and Fridel persuaded me to accompany them, in the rain, on a trek to an elephant camp some two hours downstream.  We sat on hard planks ploughing through the sometimes turbulent water.   Not exactly white water but white enough for me, a non swimmer in a glorified canoe without a life vest.   Fridel who promised to save me in the event of capsize  was fast asleep.  How anyone could get comfortable enough to sleep is a mystery to me

Within minutes of reaching the shore we were wading through a stream bed, the first of many,   In fact most of the trek was through water.  We walked for two hours, shin deep in dung and mud and who knew what else, eventually large turds and broken branches told us elephants were about.  A cheer went up when we caught their scent   

Friedel was to dog my footsteps all  around Myanmar.  I would hear "hello darlink" and there he would be

             Our guide awaiting our arrival

Camp, when we reached it consisted of a single hut on stilts made of vines, bamboo and cane, with a Nat shrine in the corner. Five bedrolls indicated the size of the labour force.  A change of clothes did double duty as pillows and there were no creature comforts in evidence.  A hard life indeed and not just for the Karen but for their animals too.  There was no sign of elephants but we were assured they were in the area.  We ate our packed lunch with tea made by the Karen oozie and mandarin oranges which our Shan guide had picked from trees en-route

 

After a fast paced 90 minute hike we were happy to see our boatman waiting.  It was raining and chilly on the water but the activity on the shore took our minds off our discomfort.  Whole families were bathing along with their buffalo, some fathers and sons fished but mostly they were just enjoying family time at the end of the working day.  Kingfishers skimmed the water and we spotted larger birds with orange ruffs and toucan like beaks along the way.  Although I was excited to see a working elephant camp, on reflection the animals are cruelly trained and worked and I would not visit one again.   Visits here were stopped soon after our trip.   There are elephant sanctuaries which provide a better experience than this

Hike To The Waterfall 2005

I was back,  introducing Tony to the delights of Hsipaw, some, because of the earlier weather, were new to me too.   There was less water coming over the falls.  We didn't need a guide, they are visible from the town albeit in the distance.  We passed a Burmese and a Chinese cemetery before emerging into the countryside
      
                 

We were not alone in this little bit of paradise.  The usual teenage boys were up here practicing their death defying leaps.  Rather them than me

While this family had a picnic, we headed for Mr. Food where

                    

 we had a choice this or team photos of Chelsea and Man United?
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